The Likud’s mayor of Ramat Gan said Wednesday the outrage over a campaign poster by MK Itamar Ben Gvir’s fascist and racist party Religious Zionism calling for banishing lawmakers of Hadash-Ta’al list as “enemies,” it is up to the Central Elections Committee to decide if it must be removed.
The racist billboard displayed on the Leornardo Hotel overlooking the Ayalon highway (Photo: Aida Touma-Sliman Facebook page)
The billboard is displayed on the Leornardo Hotel overlooking the Ayalon highway, a major artery passing by Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan. The giant poster quotes a Rosh Hashanah blessing, which prays for the “destruction of Israel’s enemies” and shows the faces of Hadash-Ta’al party leader MKs Ayman Odeh and two senior members, Ahmad Tibi and Ofer Cassif, respectively.
Cassif earlier in the day called for the banner to be removed, claiming it is “incitement to murder.” Together with his attorney, Daniel Haklai, Cassif appealed to the Chairman of the Central Election Commission, Judge Yitzhak Amit, with a request to remove the criminal election banner on the Ayalon highway. In addition, Cassif also reached out to the Israeli AG, Gali Beharve-Miara, with a request to order the opening of a criminal investigation against Ben Gvir for incitement.
Cassif, said in a video he posted to Twitter: “The arrows of incitement are aimed not only against me and my friends personally. The sign calls for the persecution and deportation of the entire Arab-Palestinian public in Israel and the Jewish democratic forces. I call all citizens to vote on November 1 and defeat fascism.”
On Tuesday, Labor party activists led by Ramat Gan Deputy Mayor Roi Barzilai filed a complaint with police, charging that the banner is incitement to racism and violence. “The police informed me they have opened an investigation into the hateful and inciting sign that Itamar Ben Gvir placed at the entrance to our city, Ramat Gan,” Barzilai tweeted. “The sign not only hurts the public’s feelings, but also constitutes a call to action, and we are fighting for its immediate removal!”
Chairman of the Constitution Committee, MK Rabbi Gilad Kariv (Labor) released a statement amid the ongoing turmoil. “Deputy Mayor of Ramat Gan and member of the Labor Party, Roi Barzilai, represents the clear position of the majority of Ramat Gan residents who are disgusted by the racism spread by Ben Gvir and his culprits. The hate campaign led by them is ongoing and the country demands a clear and decisive response. The Labor Party is determined to stand up in every town and city throughout the country.”